Any railway whose principal motive power was (is?) Mallets and used Klien Lindner axled
0-8-0Ts has got to be of interest to me. Here is a little more information on this
fascinating railway. I have now added some more photos (15th September 1998) to this page
- click here for them. A further set of old
photos (26th October 1998) is on a separate page.

The Eritrean Railway runs inland from the port of Massawa on the Red Sea. Although it
started life in 1887 as a 750mm gauge railway, little appears to have happened before it
was changed to 950mm gauge in 1900. (This is by no means certain, it may have been
950mm throughout RD.) It was built to serve a plateau which lies not far to the west
at a height of between 1000m and 2400m which necessitates steep grades (the ruling grade
is 3 to 3.5% uncompensated) and a very winding alignment with some thirty tunnels and no
less than 532 bridges, viaducts and culverts. Initial progress was slow, Ghinda (69km,
993m) was reached in 1904 and Asmara in 1911, 118km from and 2343m higher than the coast.
Even in the 1950s when Charles Small visited the railway the steam hauled run took 10
hours although by then Fiat railcars covered the distance in one third the time. Beyond
Asmara the line continued slowly westwards towards the Sudan border, descending initially
through the Cheren Gorge (222km, 1390m). By 1925 the line had reached Biscia via Agordat
with the intention of finally reaching Tessenai to connect with the 3 foot 6 inch Sudan
railway, but this was never built and the line beyond Agordat was abandoned in the 1940s.
Initially the workshops were at Ghinda but they were moved to Asmara about 1928.

James L. Woodward has sent me a sketch map of part of the
scenic section:

The two old photos below have been provided by Renato
Gaudio. The first appears to
show one of the early Maffei Mallets.

I am grateful to Roland Beier for providing the steam loco list for the railway:

No. prior to 1939

R/N 1939

Wheel arr.

Builder

No.

Year

Notes

1 MASSAUA

0-4-0T

Henschel

2430

1887

Scr. 1926

2 DOGALI

0-4-0T

Henschel

2452

1887

Scr. 1926

3 SAATI

0-4-0T

Henschel

2453

1887

Scr. 1926

4 ITALIA

0-4-0T

Henschel

2486

1887

Scr. 1926

5 SAGAMEITI

0-4-0T

Henschel

1887

Scr. 1926

6 CHEREN

0-4-0T

Henschel

1887

Scr. 1926

7 DE DRISTOFORO

0-4-0T

Henschel

1887

Scr. 1926

R202.01

202,001

0-4-0T

Breda

2168

1927

R202.02

202,002

0-4-0T

Breda

2169

1927

R202.03

202,003

0-4-0T

Breda

2170

1927

R202.04

202,004

0-4-0T

Breda

2272

1929

R202.05

202,005

0-4-0T

Breda

2273

1929

R202.106

202,006

0-4-0T

Breda

2452

1932

R202.107

202,007

0-4-0T

Breda

2453

1932

R202.108

202,008

0-4-0T

Breda

2454

1932

R202.109

202,009

0-4-0T

Breda

2455

1932

R202.110

202,010

0-4-0T

Breda

2456

1932

R202.111

202,011

0-4-0T

Breda

2457

1932

R300.001

R300.001

0-6-0T

OM Reggio

40

1918

1938 ex FS

1945 to FCL (Italy)

R300.002

R300.002

0-6-0T

OM Reggio

41

1918

1938 ex FS

1945 to FCL (Italy)

R301.5

R301.001

2-6-0T

Saronno

464

1912

1938 ex FS

Scr. by 1949

R301.7

R301.002

2-6-0T

Saronno

466

1912

1938 ex FS

Scr. by 1949

R301.15

R301.003

2-6-0T

Saronno

474

1912

1927 ex FS

Scr. by 1949

R301.32

R301.004

2-6-0T

OM Milano

612

1912

1927 ex FS

Scr. by 1949

R302.034

R302.034

2-6-0T

OM Napoli

115

1927

1939 ex FS

R440.001

440,001

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1113

1914

1936 ex FS

R440.002

440,002

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1114

1914

1936 ex FS

R440.003

440,003

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1115

1914

1936 ex FS

R440.004

440,004

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1116

1914

1936 ex FS

R440.005

440,005

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1117

1915

1936 ex FS

R440.006

440,006

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1118

1915

1936 ex FS

R440.007

440,007

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1161

1915

1936 ex FS

R440.008

440,008

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1162

1915

1936 ex FS

R440.009

440,009

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1163

1915

1936 ex FS

R440.010

440,010

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1164

1915

1936 ex FS

R440.011

440,011

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1165

1915

1936 ex FS

R440.012

440,012

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1166

1915

1936 ex FS

13

440,013

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

914

1911

14

440,014

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

915

1911

15

440,015

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

916

1911

16

440,016

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1060

1913

17

440,017

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1061

1913

18

440,018

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1107

1913

19

440,019

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1108

1914

20

440,020

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1109

1914

21

440,021

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1110

1914

22

440,022

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1111

1914

23

440,023

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1112

1914

24

440,024

0-4+4-0T

Asmara

1931

built at Asmara works

8

440,025

0-4+4-0T

Maffei

2641

1907

9

440,026

0-4+4-0T

Maffei

2642

1907

10

440,027

0-4+4-0T

Maffei

2643

1907

11

440,028

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

912

1911

12

440,029

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

913

1911

R440.030

440,030

0-4+4-0T

Asmara

1939

built at Asmara works

R440.031

440,031

0-4+4-0T

Asmara

1939

built at Asmara works

R441.33

441,001

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

144

1936

R441.34

441,002

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

146

1936

R441.35

441,003

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

145

1936

1945 to Libya

R441.36

441,004

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

147

1936

R441.37

441,005

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

148

1936

R441.38

441,006

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

149

1936

R441.39

441,007

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

150

1936

R441.40

441,008

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

151

1936

R441.25

441,101

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

136

1933

1945 to Libya

R441.26

441,102

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

137

1933

R441.27

441,103

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

138

1933

R441.28

441,201

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

139

1933

1945 to Libya

R441.29

441,202

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

140

1933

R441.30

441,203

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

141

1933

R441.31

441,204

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

142

1933

1945 to Libya

R441.32

441,205

0-4+4-0T

OM Reggio

143

1933

R442.53

R442.53

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1363

1938

R442.54

R442.54

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1364

1938

R442.55

R442.55

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1365

1938

R442.56

R442.56

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1366

1938

R442.57

R442.57

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1367

1938

R442.58

R442.58

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1368

1938

R442.59

R442.59

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1369

1938

R442.60

R442.60

0-4+4-0T

Ansaldo

1370

1938

R442.61

0-4+4-0T

Asmara

1963

built at Asmara works

IV.41

443,001

0-4-0T

Ansaldo

1300

1922

IV.42

443,002

0-4-0T

Ansaldo

1301

1922

IV.43

443,003

0-4-0T

Ansaldo

1302

1922

IV.44

443,004

0-4-0T

Ansaldo

1303

1922

IV.45

443,005

0-4-0T

Ansaldo

1304

1922

Bibliography:

Ferrovie Coloniale Italiane by G.Giotto (published 1975) - I have not seen this but
Roland Beier has provided the list above from it.

Far Wheels II by the late Charles Small (ISBN 0-912113-31-6)
(and its predecessor Far Wheels) (from which I have 'pinched' the map.
Steam in Africa by Durrant, Jorgensen and Lewis (ISBN 0-600-349462)
The Mallet Locomotive by Durrant (ISBN 0-668-03678-8)

Here are six more pictures, the first five are from
Charles
Moulton. All were taken between 1968 and 1972.

The first two were taken on a causeway between the Island of
Massawa where the central city is located and the mainland. One is a 1930s era FIAT motor
car known as a Littorina

This is about 5 to 7 km down the mountain from Asmara:

This is about 10 to 15 km down the mountain and shows Moulton:

This appears to be taken near Ghinda. This would place it about 55 km from
Asmara (or Massawa)